Restore International
 | |
| Founded | 2003 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Bob Goff[1] |
| Type | 501(c)(3)under the laws of the State of California |
| Location |
|
Key people |
Bob Goff (Founder) Deborah Eriksson (Executive Director) |
Revenue | $654,580[2] |
| Website | http://restoreinternational.org/ |
Restore International is a nonprofit organization founded by Bob Goff[3] in 2003. Their goal is to try to change a few lives for the better. They fight for freedom and human rights, work to improve educational opportunities, and try to be helpful to those in need of a voice and a friend.
History
Restore International was founded in 2003 by Bob Goff after a trip to India where he witnessed extreme human rights violations. Restore India started with efforts to free those in bonded labor, human trafficking,[4] or otherwise exploited. In 2006, they began working in Uganda in human rights and education. In March 2014 they launched a program in Somalia to improve educational opportunities, safety care for women and children, and feeding programs. Most recently, in September 2014, Restore opened a school in Iraq as well as an orphanage in Nepal.
Activities
The work of Restore International are divided into two major areas: education and human rights. Restore International's activities include education, fighting human trafficking through investigations, surveillance, brothel raids, working with local law enforcement, and providing safety for women and children. Restore International works in India to prevent the sale and trafficking of underage children. Restore International has helped stop forced prostitution in India by arresting over 80 criminals and placing the children in safe houses. In addition, Restore International also works in Northern Uganda,[5] a country that Goff holds the position of Honorary Consul.[6] Restore’s work in Uganda is focused around educating and empowering children. Restore founded a school, Restore Leadership Academy, in Gulu, Uganda in 2007. Restore Leadership Academy first began with 30 students and expanded to over 330 students with 35 teachers. Recently Restore International has been noted by Nicholas Kristof in his book A Path Appears [7] in regards to their work in Uganda.
Restore International hosted two Love Does conferences[8] in Austin, Texas and Tacoma, Washington where 100% of the proceeds went to efforts in Uganda and India.
Uganda
Restore has been working in Uganda since 2006, primarily to promote human rights and education. They started by asking Ugandans what the biggest need was at the time. Their answer was human rights and education, so Restore got busy trying to be helpful in those areas. The educational aspect is not the only need addressed as Restore has a safe house in Kampala,Uganda that has over 25+ girls living there.
Restore Leadership Academy
In 2007, Restore started a secondary school in Gulu, Uganda. Many of the students were previous child soldiers, rescued from lives of forced sex trafficking, orphans, or from backgrounds of extreme poverty. From a tiny beginning, the school thrived on the vision to give these kids hope, a home and a fighting chance at success. As of 2014, there are 308 students and 45 staff members in primary, middle and high school and Restore Leadership Academy is one of the top schools in Northern Uganda for its academic performance and sports teams. Soon after opening, Restore added more grade levels so that the levels spanned from Senior One to Senior Six, which is the U.S. equivalent of junior high and high school. They added dorms so that the children could live at the school and they also introduced a program of family cells, so that the students could thrive in a safe, caring and family-like environment with assigned mentors. They kept the cost of tuition to less than half of the normal rate, and put many students on scholarship so that they could continue to attend. In 2011, they were able to build a school campus on land that they had purchased for their students. A couple of years later, in March 2013, they opened a primary school in order to provide more opportunities for education at all ages. In addition to academics, they have focused on a holistic approach to student development by providing extracurricular actives and community building programs such a s sport teams, boy and girl scouts, group studies, and music programs.
India
Throughout the world, 29 million people each year are enslaved.[9] That is the highest number in the history of the world. India has been noted to have more than half of the world slave population.[10] Restore has been working in India since 2002 to investigate and perform surveillance to find children being enslaved in brothels or other forms of bonded labor. They work with police to do raids, rescue the children, and arrest the traffickers. The children are then taken to homes to be cared for and hopefully returned home to their families, depending on their situation. The perpetrators are prosecuted and hopefully prevented from enslaving more children.
Somalia
Somalia is a country torn by war and struggling to recover from years of famine, war, unrest, and violence.[11] Unfortunately, the biggest victims are the women and children. It's estimated there are over a million displaced people in the country right now, and the vast majority of these people struggle to meet the basic needs of survival, let alone to pursue education and livelihoods. Restore International is working on improving educational opportunities for the youth, and safety and care for women and children. The Mogadishu Safe House was opened in September 2014 for women and children who had been victims of gender based violence. The home is a place for them to come for safety, medical attention, counseling and therapy, and then job training skills to help build their lives back. Along with Restore's work with the safe house, they also been involved in providing women and girls with education and meals. They are working with an existing school in Mogadishu, with 100 girls in primary school. Funding goes directly towards tuition, school supplies, renting the building, employing teachers, and feeding the children breakfast and lunch.
Iraq
Restore has an after school care program and an English language school in Northern Iraq that educates 70 students. The school is geared towards orphaned and low income children who normally spend their days on the streets. In war-impacted areas of Iraq Restore feels it is essential to provide these children with opportunity, safety, support, and love. They are giving them a safe and happy environment in which they can learn and build on their futures. Restore also support refugees in Iraq by providing them with supplies and shelter necessary for survival.
Nepal
Restore established an orphanage in Nepal in the fall of 2014 that is home to 6 girls. These girls are provided with a good education, along with a safe, loving, nurturing environment that facilitates growth and development. A team from Restore went to Nepal in May 2015 to do earthquake relief work. They brought joy, balloons, and an intent to serve that became contagious among the communities they were assisting. Restore plans on taking another trip to Nepal to help communities rebuild within the next year.
Child Sponsorship
Restore International pairs students with friends in the States or around the world who want to help out financially and be a friend to the kids for encouragement and support. Sponsorship enables Restore International to continue operating the schools in Uganda and Somalia by subsidizing the expenses each month, and it also allows them to provide scholarships, reduce tuition, and other benefits to the children. Restore International is dedicated to restore hope, invest in the future leaders, and change a few lives for the better. The cost of the sponsorship “engage” program[12] is $1 USD per day which provides over 300 children with a home, meals, and an education.
References
- ↑ Bob Goff
- ↑ Guide Star
- ↑ Bob Goff
- ↑ United States of America, Restore Internaltional, Human Trafficking
- ↑ Speak With Your Life: A Witch Doctor, The White House and Charlie, Huffington Post
- ↑ Seattle Times
- ↑ , Random House
- ↑ Love Does
- ↑ More Than 29 Million People Live As Slaves, According To New Report Huffington Post
- ↑ Thirty Million People are Enslaved- Half in India- Survey Reuters
- ↑ Somalia Profile BBC
- ↑ Restore Engage Program